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Hello, I am Steve Suggs, sales recruiting expert and author of the book, Can They Sell. Welcome to my sales recruitment video blog, 5 minutes of learning to hire the best salespeople.
Recently my wife asked me, “Why is it so difficult to understand why people don’t get along?” I told her that this is a similar question that sales managers ask me all the time. Everyone wants to know why people do the things they do.
- “Why are people so different?”
- “Why are my kids so completely opposite?”
- “Why do candidates interview well, and when they get on the job, behave differently?”
- “Why can some people who perform well in sales not manage salespeople?”
Answering these questions may be easy for a trained psychologist, but what if I’m a parent or a manager, and all I want is enough information to raise my children or hire and coach my salespeople?
I wish the answers to these questions were simple, but they’re not. One thing I’ve learned in life is if something like recruiting salespeople or getting along with your spouse is hard to figure out, then there’s no simple answer. And gaining the knowledge you need to fix complex issues is not easy. In other words,
there’s no magic formula for understanding human behavior. There is, however, some basic human behavior knowledge that, if you learn it, will help everyone get along better and will help you become a better recruiter and coach of salespeople.
I only have time in this short blog to give you a bit of encouragement and the highlights of basic human behavior.
There are 5 dimensions of human behavior.
If you learn and gain understanding of these 5 dimensions, it will help you diagnose why people do the things they do.
1. Attitudes
Under this dimension are two basic attitudes.
- A positive or negative image of one’s self as a person. The degree to which we think positively of ourselves comes out in our actions toward others. The things that come out of our mouth are the things that are in our hearts. So, change your inside, and the way you speak to and treat people will change.
- Our passion for solving the problems around us using our natural talents. If we use our natural talents to help others at home and at work, we have high levels of success in both places.
2. Motivations
- How driven are we to bring about change in our lives?
- Are we driven to change our situation financially, physically (our health, appearance), spiritually, and relationally?
- Are we driven to leave our community and world better than it was than when we came into it?
3. Character
We are all products of our environment. Character is formed, in varying degrees, in our environment from teaching from parents and mentors, our educational experiences, our job experience and life experiences. We come into this world as needy and selfish human beings. Aristotle said it best, “A baby would strangle his mother for his milk if his arms were not so short and uncoordinated.” The right combination of teaching, praise and approval, discipline and disapproval will bond us to these four character traits:
- Honesty
- Work ethic
- Concern for others
- Accepting responsibility for the outcomes of our actions
4. Personality
- Where character is formed in our environment, personality is genetic and changes very little over time.
- Our personality largely determines how we react and perform in our environment.
- Personality determines the pace, intensity, and confidence with which we approach our work and circumstances.
- Job duties and tasks outside of our job which are in line with our personality require less energy to perform.
- Conversely, if job duties or life situations require a different personality trait than we possess, it takes a lot of energy to perform the task or overcome the challenge. We tire easily while performing duties which are outside of our natural personality tendencies.
5. Competencies/Skills
When we study and learn a skill or gain knowledge in specific areas, these competencies improve our self-image and cause us to approach tasks with a greater level of energy. These competencies increase our productivity.
Productivity is not only tied to knowledge or a specific skill because the degree to which a person possesses high levels of the other four traits of attitudes, motivations, character traits and personality traits will have a greater impact on productivity than knowledge and skill development.
In addition to these 5 dimensions of human behavior, here are a few other principals that I’ve found to be extremely helpful in getting along with others and developing deep lasting relationships.
- The degree to which you love others is the same degree to which you will be loved by others.
- Listen more than you talk.
- Avoid the extremes.
- Avoid becoming too emotionally involved with others or caring too little.
- Don’t eat or drink too much.
- Avoid too much exercise or too much rest.
- Avoid too much work or too much play.
- For every hour of TV you watch, read for an hour.
- Focus on growing spiritually.
- Learn that it takes less emotional energy to loose an argument than to try to win it.
- Remember, to an observer of two people arguing, it’s hard to tell who’s the greater fool.
- Spend time thinking about this statement, “Selfishness impoverishes.”
Thank you for joining me. See you next time on the Can They Sell video blog for more sales job recruitment training. As always, please leave your comments below and forward this video to anyone who will benefit. Now go enjoy recruiting the best, and have fun in the sales interview.
Learn more about the following:
• Where to find sales people, where to find sale reps
• What to look for while recruiting salespeople – 5 Dimensions of the Best Salesperson Profile Hiring sales, hire salespeople, hire sales people, hiring sales people, hiring sales reps, IT sales recruitment, recruiting sales people, sales job recruitment
• How to look for the 5 Dimensions – get questionnaires – interview questions for sales, interview questions for salespeople, sales interview, interview questions for sales people
- Sales test, sales assessment, CPQ, Craft Personality Questionnaire
- Sales interview tips
- Sales job description – page 79, Can They Sell book
- Tips for screening resumes – Chapter 13, Can They Sell book
To YOUR Success,
Steve Suggs
SalesManage.com/Recruiting
CanTheySell.com